Constraints to Increasing Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: A Review

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Both the incidence and depth of poverty are higher in SSA than in most other regions of the world. Poverty is also a consequence of low access to agricultural technologies, compounded by poor rural infrastructure that blocks easy inflow of inputs and outflow of farm produce (AfDB 2002). Poverty can result in food insecurity, low productivity, and farmers’ inability to afford yield-enhancing inputs (Ogunlela and Ogungbile 2006). Women have relatively limited rights to farmland in spite of having a significant role in agricultural production in many parts of Nigeria. Women have less access to extension services and credit. These constraints, together with lower access to farmlands, limit their agricultural productivity. Table 6 provides evidence concerning the involvement of women in the various activities in the value chains of selected commodities. Although the table does not show the inputs committed by gender groups, there is indication that women play key roles in agriculture in southwest Nigeria, especially in post-harvest activities. Table 6. Distribution of respondents by commodity, economic activity, and gender, southwest Nigeria Study Commodity Activity Gender of farmer No. % Adesokan (2007) Cassava Production Male 66 82.5 Female 14 17.5 Total 80 100 Ajibola (2006) Cassava Production Male 91 91 Female 9 9 Total 100 100 Osibeluwo Cassava Production Male 76 76 (2005) Female 24 24 Total 100 100 Murana (2005) Maize/sorghum Production Male 89 93.7 Female 6 6.3 Total 95 100 Oladele (2006) Rice Production Male 68 85 Female 12 15 Total 80 100 Erhoyoma Cassava Production Male 65 77.4 (2003) Female 19 22.6 Total 84 100 Bolarinwa (2006) Cassava, maize Production Male 129 85.4 Female 22 14.6 Total 151 100 Fade-Aluko Rice Marketing Male 6 10 (2007) Female 54 90 Total 60 100 Babalola (2003) Rice, maize, Grains Male 58 48.33 cowpea storage Female 62 51.67 Total 120 100 Alagbe (2007) Cassava Processing Male 6 10 Female 54 90 Total 60 100 The role of women in agricultural production varies in Nigeria. Among the Muslims in the north, married women mostly live in seclusion (purdah) and are not expected to leave home. The exceptions are the cattle-owning Fulani households, where married women work outside the home primarily to milk the cows and sell the milk, butter, and cheese (NARP 1994). Beyond processing and selling activities, direct on-farm roles are very limited for married Muslim women in the north of Nigeria (Table 7). In the Zonkwa area of Kaduna state, women are substantially involved in on-farm production activities, in addition to their exclusive contributions to marketing, water and firewood fetching, cooking, and caring for the children. By contrast, women in the Funtua community of Katsina state are little involved in most agricultural activities. 25
There is a growing demand to weigh labor inputs for age and gender groups in Africa since the roles of women in agriculture differ between places on the continent. In some areas in Nigeria, on-farm activities are left to women. In other places, women engage mainly in cooking and caring for children. To better appreciate women’s roles and to estimate their farm labor productivity, diverse roles must be accounted for. Differentiation between women who are primarily housewives and women who are primarily farmers will ultimately affect estimation of labor productivity. Failure to account for differing roles may underestimate agricultural labor productivity. Table 7. Percentage of women performing specific farm activities, Katsina and Kaduna states Farming activity Of related importance to gender issues in agricultural productivity is level of education. High illiteracy rates among women will limit adoption of improved farm technologies, while high literacy rates for both gender groups is expected to improve farmers’ ability to use information from extension services. This would enhance farm recordkeeping for improved cost-and-returns evaluation and better tracking of market opportunities. Thus, education is expected to affect agricultural productivity. However, it is conceivable that with better education, farmers may seek better-paying nonfarm jobs for which they become suited. Low Access to Agricultural Credit Funtua (Katsina state) Land preparation 17 80 Ridging 0 30 Planting 17 100 Weeding 0 80 Fertilizer application 33 90 Harvesting 0 100 Transporting 33 100 Zonkwa (Kaduna state) Source: NARP 1994. Note: Funtua is a Muslim community inhabited largely by the Hausa/Fulani while Zonkwa is a Christian community, dominated by Jarma people. Access to agricultural credit has been positively linked to agricultural productivity in several studies. Yet this vital input has eluded smallholder farmers in Nigeria. As shown in Table 8, cooperatives, friends, and family members dominate the sources of farm credit among the rural farmers surveyed in southwest Nigeria. However, the total amount of farm credit available from these sources is very limited in relation to the amounts that formal sources like banks would have offered. These results are reinforced by the studies shown in Tables 10 and 11. Table 8. Available sources of farm credit to sample of farmers, Oyo and Ogun states, southwest Nigeria Source % responding * Cooperatives Informal (friends/family) Banks 75 75 0 Source: Phillip and Adetimirin 2001; * Multiple responses allowed. 26
Page 1 and 2: NSSP Background Paper 6 Constraints
Page 3 and 4: Constraints to Increasing Agricultu
Page 5 and 6: Table 13. Adoption rates (%) of sel
Page 7 and 8: NEPAD New Partnership for African D
Page 9 and 10: presidential initiative commodities
Page 11 and 12: When research is poorly funded, agr
Page 13 and 14: harvesting is about N70,000, if all
Page 15 and 16: facilities in abattoirs at wholesal
Page 17 and 18: establishment of a poultry products
Page 19 and 20: fostering many other economic activ
Page 21 and 22: challenge is to develop and dissemi
Page 23 and 24: Table 2. Activities, targets, and i
Page 25 and 26: Figure 1. Plot of indices of area p
Page 27 and 28: Figure 3. Conceptual Framework: Typ
Page 29 and 30: largely ineffective because the gro
Page 31: constraint to agricultural producti
Page 35 and 36: It is relevant to add that, from th
Page 37 and 38: technologies, partly because the NA
Page 39 and 40: inadequate extension services as im
Page 41 and 42: Table 15. Parameters for classifyin
Page 43 and 44: Table 17. Distribution of farmers b
Page 45 and 46: Transport Materials (e.g., bags) As
Page 47 and 48: Taking the case of cassava pellets
Page 49 and 50: tuber contains 60-70 percent moistu
Page 51 and 52: Most of the maize processing in Nig
Page 53 and 54: Figure 4. Map of Nigeria showing ri
Page 55 and 56: As was noted for maize, the cost pe
Page 57 and 58: (GPS) affects productivity, especia
Page 59 and 60: those affecting feeds and nutrition
Page 61 and 62: The government should sustain the c
Page 63 and 64: Carter, J. 1995. Alley cropping: Ha
Page 65 and 66: Proceedings of an international con
Page 67 and 68: Spencer, D., A. Doward, G. Abalu, D
Page 69 and 70: the realization of the full potenti
Page 71: Appendix 3: Nigerian National and A

Constraints to Increasing Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria: A Review

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